The Green Miles nine question decarbonisation challenge

9. What are the biggest common sustainability challenges facing the whole logistics sector, in your opinion?

One that springs immediately to mind is where people are trying to get good connections at their depots. They've made the decision that they're ready to go electric and they then look to try and get infrastructure in at their depot, but quite often they find that there isn't a grid connection there.

There can be some astronomical costs associated with that, but also the whole process can be quite cumbersome and people don't always understand that process. But we've been doing quite a lot of work with the Energy Networks Association to try and produce some guidance which will help people navigate their way through that complex process that is hopefully going to be out soon. We found that a lot of the distribution network operators have got some really good tools, but unless you know what you're looking for, it's almost impossible to find them. The guidance is designed to help people navigate towards these tools.

Obviously, there's the cost of the vehicles. Residual values is something that's coming up as being an issue, particularly if people are looking to purchase. You know, we've seen a huge drop off in the values on electric cars and we expect to see the same with commercial vehicles as well.

Larger fleet operators continue to transition their fleets to electric - you’ll have seen announcements from companies like M&S and Amazon - but it’s much harder for the smaller operators.

TGM: What are the specific challenges for smaller operators, and how do they get confidence to follow suit?

It’s an expensive outlay and it’s very hard for smaller fleet operators to make the same kind of commitment. The other challenge is public infrastructure, particularly where vans are taken home by the drivers.

With smaller operators we increasingly see that people have moved away from a depot type model. The driver takes the van home at the end of the shift. It's hard enough to get parked, let alone parked and charged.

Accessibility of public charging is something we've highlighted within the Van Plan. It's not just the size of the bays, there are also quite often height restrictions. Council car parks are a good example where people could potentially park and charge. But the vans are too big and they can't get in.

There's also a number of park and rides which have height restrictions, so we've seen some local authorities put some really good hubs in place, but height restrictions are still a barrier for a larger van.

Furthermore, there is a lack of bookability. Our annual Road to Zero Report Card has a KPI where we try and measure the number of bookable charge points, and so far we haven't been able to find any. Anecdotally, we keep hearing that they're coming and there are some in the UK, but it's really difficult to find evidence.

Also, when you're looking to book, if you go on an app such as ZAPmap, at the moment it wouldn't tell you if there was a van accessible bay, so there's a lack of information as well. All these infrastructure barriers mean that downtime is a major issue. The infrastructure barrier is a tough one to crack and there is no silver bullet.

In our ZEV mandate response to the government, we asked for a focus on cross-pavement solutions. For example, a cable that can be placed in the pavement between the on-road parking space and the van owner’s home where the electric charger would be situated. That’s if they can get a parking space outside their home.

A lot of local authorities have issues with these cable solutions as there is a question around liability. If somebody was to trip where the pavement has been altered there could be an issue. There is a grant available to implement these systems but it's only £350, which arguably is not enough.

We've done a lot of work on the regulation around 4.25 tonne vans. It was great to see that the government recently announced it will be dropping the five-hour training requirement (subject to the law being changed). It will extend that derogation to other vehicle types and it will allow towing, but there are still issues where the vehicle has to be MOT’d as though it was a truck, and limitations in how far it can travel beyond its base.

The government recently consulted on removing these remaining regulatory barriers. Fingers crossed we see them removed. We did a short survey and overwhelmingly, the large majority of operators said that these regulations were the biggest barrier preventing them from being able to go electric. If we were to remove this barrier, looking at fleet cycles and the suggested purchases of those surveyed, the survey found that this could result in 160,000 more 4.25t e-van sales at a market level between now and 2027.

This presents a very strong case for the government to act.

8. What happens to the EV batteries at the end of their life?

Ideally they'll be recycled, but I don't think we're awash with recycling facilities. So that is a bit of an issue. But also I think - particularly on the heavier side - there could be an application for the battery beyond its life within the truck.

There’s still concern raised about the battery health of a vehicle in its second life, but these concerns are unfounded. With electric cars I think it's about 2% derogation each year. That's not in trucks, that's in a car, but there’s no reason to think that it wouldn't be the same.

I think there will be life in the battery beyond the vehicle itself. And there are people who are looking into this for HGVs. There are lessons we can learn from the bus world, which has looked to value the battery as a separate asset and examined how it can be used beyond the life of the battery, ie as battery storage. I think we will see more of this.

7. Do you think the UK's net zero goals are realistic?

Following the ZEV mandate consultation, the government has now announced it will allow diesel until 2035. This is something we have been pushing for, as anything sooner seemed unrealistic.

The cost of charging is something that's also come up as a huge barrier. You know, there is a growing divide between those who can easily charge at home and those that need to charge via a public charging network. So, if you charge at home, I think it's about seven pence per kilowatt per hour, whereas you're looking at circa 80 pence per minute at a public rapid charging station.

For HGVs, we've got the phase-out dates when new HGV sales will need to be zero emission in 2035 (26t vehicles and under) and 2040 (over 26t). It's very ambitious and, you know, I think at least with the ZEV mandate for cars and vans we have a pathway.

We can see what trajectories we’re supposed to be hitting and whether we're on target or not. Those trajectories don't exist in the truck world. I don't know how I feel about a ZEV mandate for trucks, but I think we need more clarity, and I still keep hearing people saying they are going to wait for hydrogen. It all needs clearing up.

Alternative fuels have a key role to play in that interim period. And why wait until we can go all out electric? Why not do what we can when we can.

I do worry that grid connections will be a major barrier. There are several examples coming to the fore where people have identified they have got some power, but they're being told that they're not going to get a connection for 10 years or so. My big concern is that people will wait until we get much closer to the phase-out dates for trucks and say, OK, we now need to do this and then realise that they're in a very long queue and the chance of a connection is limited.

I really do think we need to be educating people now about how to overcome some of those challenges. Work is being done to try and eliminate the queues and push things along, but whether that's going to be enough, I think is debatable. Education is key and we need to be speaking to operators now about what they need to be thinking of to electrify both their fleets and their depots.

I think there are some fleet operators who have perhaps buried their heads in the sand and are maybe thinking well, you know, I'm going to retire so why am I going to commit all this money to electrifying my fleet? But I've also seen some fantastic examples of both younger generation fleet owners and those more experienced, who are perhaps closer to retirement, who have been very innovative and really embrace this.

We really need to avoid people waiting until the very last minute.

TGM: How do you make it compelling?

This is where education really plays a role in people sharing their knowledge, their understanding of what they've experienced, the pitfalls and how they overcame them. Yes, obviously regulation will play a part, but let’s just start talking about this as much as we can and as early as possible.

There are lots of inaccuracies that are put out there. For example, the notion that the vehicle will catch on fire. That incident at Luton airport - automatically it was said that it was an EV that was to blame. But it wasn't, it was a diesel.

This again shows why education is so important and how there is an onus on us all to build this confidence and overcome the barrage of misinformation.

6. What are the best examples of positive breakthroughs you've seen in the last decade or so?

From a policy perspective, the work that we've done on the Van Plan has been positive.

We have three key asks:

The first is around funding and asking for an extension to the plug-in van grant, which we have now secured for another year.

The second was around infrastructure. We would love to see some sort of grid connections fund created and a reduction in the cost of public charging. Let's keep our fingers crossed that something comes out as part of the ZEV mandate consultation and measures needed to drive demand.

The third area is around regulatory alignment, which I hope we will see resolved soon. I'm optimistic that the government will respond. There are still some safety concerns, but it's really difficult to prove or disprove that a 4.25 tonne is any more risky or safer than a 3.5 tonne because there aren’t enough being used due to the regulatory barriers holding people back.

5. Why was the plug-in grant only extended by one year? Why not five?

I think that there's a challenge because you know, Rachel Reeves announced she was doing a one-year spending review and then subsequently would do a three-year spending review. So, at the moment, we're only looking at putting the case forward for that one-year spending review.

Behind the scenes, I'm sure officials are working on the three-year, but at the moment they can only announce anything on that one-year term. We will hear more in the comprehensive spending review in June.

4. Who is an inspirational figure in logistics decarbonisation?

There are too many to single any one individual out, but the real inspirational figures are the operators who are embracing this change and doing all they can to transfer their fleets to EVs, and sharing their learnings with others as they go.

3. So with the growing emphasis on sustainability, do you see rail freight competing with road and air transport?

I think rail definitely has a part to play. It's not in our area of expertise. But yes, I think rail and water, you know, both have a role to play in terms of reducing congestion.

London is a good example of the challenges facing fleet operators. Removing the electric vehicle congestion charge exemption is putting an additional cost on operators who are trying to do the right thing. And one thing I'm really concerned about is that we start to see local authorities penalising people for not being able to make the move. But there are lots of good reasons why people can't make the move yet.

We definitely need to do more work with local authorities to encourage them. We did some research last year in terms of how many local authorities were engaging with the fleet community. There had been a slight improvement from the previous year, but it was still over 60% of local authorities that weren't engaging with fleet operators.

There are some very proactive fleet operators who are actively ringing the local authorities to ask what they are doing to help operators. This had an impact on the results – I think if it wasn’t for this, the results would actually have been worse.

TGM: How about infrastructure, is enough being done in that area?

No. Infrastructure is one of the remaining barriers that we really need to try to address. It’s not that there aren't enough charge points, the question is – are they van accessible? All the focus is generally on cars and in many cases vans can’t fit into the charging facility.

For trucks, it’s back to grid connections challenges and how we can help operators overcome them.

2. How do logistics companies deal with first mover hesitancy?

I think it's back to the sharing of best practice amongst operators - pulling people who are perhaps hesitant into meetings with people who are a little bit further down the road. Sharing what worked, what rabbit holes they fell down and how they pulled themselves back out.

Education is the best way we can do this and overcoming any negative press - finding different ways to communicate.

1. Finally - what does 2025 look like for logistics decarbonisation?

Hopefully we'll see a lot more focus on vans and regulations drop. I also think we'll see more discussions on the sharing of infrastructure. We're already seeing some of the bus companies who were early movers starting to look at how they can open up their infrastructure for others to use.

On the truck side, perhaps later this year, we'll start to see a bit more in terms of that pathway and potentially a consultation on whether we have a ZEV mandate for trucks and what that looks like.

And on the van side, I'm really optimistic, which is not like me! When we hear from our survey that the 4.25 tonne regulations are one of the biggest barriers or the big barrier holding people back - it would be a quick fix for the government to remove that regulation. There is no evidence that there is any more of a road safety risk.

I think they just need to get on and do it.

Published On: 14/04/2025 11:12:47